Netgear Nighthawk AX1800 WiFi 6 5 GHz router review, is it worth it?

The Netgear Nighthawk AX1800 WiFi 6 (RAX20) router released in 2019. It is powered by Broadcom BCM6755 @ 1.5 GHz chipset, 512 MB of RAM and 256 MB of flash. The AX1800 router is compatible with IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ax standards, and the maximum speed that you can get with Nighthawk AX1800 WiFi 6 is 574 + 1201 Mbps. The router has 1 x 10/100/1000 Mbps WAN and 4 x 10/100/1000 Mbps LAN ports.

The Nighthawk AX1800 WiFi 6 is a versatile router that offers more than just basic functionality. With its advanced features and capabilities, it provides a reliable and high-performance networking solution for both home and office environments. You can connect supported USB devices to the Nighthawk AX1800 WiFi 6 router. The external storage devices such as USB flash drives or external hard drives add file-server functionality to this router. Netgear incorporates energy-efficient features in their products, promoting sustainability and reducing power consumption.

Table of contents:

• Netgear Nighthawk AX1800 WiFi 6 specifications
• Netgear Nighthawk AX1800 WiFi 6 pictures

Netgear Nighthawk AX1800 WiFi 6 (RAX20) specifications

Body

The dimensions and design of a router can impact its cooling capabilities. Routers with larger dimensions may have more space for internal cooling mechanisms, such as larger fans or heat sinks, which can help dissipate heat more effectively. The weight of a router can be a consideration in certain situations, but it is generally not as crucial as other factors such as performance, features, and compatibility.

System

The Netgear Nighthawk AX1800 WiFi 6 router is equipped with Broadcom BCM6755 @ 1.5 GHz processor. The Nighthawk AX1800 WiFi 6 comes with 512 MB of RAM. The amount of RAM in a router can impact its performance and capacity to handle concurrent operations and traffic. Higher RAM capacity allows for better multitasking, larger routing tables, and improved overall performance. The 256 MB flash memory in the router serves as the storage medium for the router's firmware. It is a non-volatile memory that retains its data even when power is removed from the device.

The Netgear often releases firmware updates to enhance the router's functionality, improve security, fix bugs, and add new features. Firmware updates can provide performance improvements, compatibility with new devices or protocols, and address vulnerabilities. The Netgear Nighthawk AX1800 WiFi 6 router comes with 12 V / 2.5 A PSU. This unit is responsible for providing electrical power to the router, and if it becomes faulty, it can be replaced with a new, compatible one.

Network

Like many modern routers, the Nighthawk AX1800 WiFi 6 supports many network standards too. The IPv4 is the fourth iteration of the Internet Protocol (IP) and is the most widely used version of IP on the internet today. The latest firmware supports IPv6 protocol that provides an identification and location system for computers on networks and routes traffic across the Internet. The Netgear Nighthawk AX1800 WiFi 6 has 4 x 10/100/1000 Mbps LAN and 1 x 10/100/1000 Mbps WAN ports. LAN or Ethernet ports (RJ-45) are used to connect devices to the local area network (LAN).

This router has Gigabit Ethernet LAN ports, which provides data transfer speeds of up to 1000 Mbps (1 Gbps) over Ethernet connections. The WAN port on a router stands for "Wide Area Network" port. It is used to connect the router to the external network, typically provided by an internet service provider (ISP). The Nighthawk AX1800 WiFi 6 router supports Gigabit speed on its WAN port, that can support speeds up to 1000 Mbps. This router ensures that you can fully utilize high-speed internet connections provided by your ISP. The Nighthawk AX1800 WiFi 6 comes with OpenVPN support. OpenVPN is a full-featured SSL VPN solution which implements OSI layer 2 or 3 secure network extension using the industry standard SSL/TLS protocol.

Wireless

This router has 2 x 6 dBi, external antennas. Antennas play a significant role in Wi-Fi performance and coverage. They are essential components of wireless routers that transmit and receive radio signals to establish wireless connections with devices. The Nighthawk AX1800 WiFi 6 is compatible with 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi networks. 2.4 GHz is the most widely used frequency and in some cases may be overcrowded.

The Nighthawk AX1800 WiFi 6 supports the 5 GHz band too. The 5 GHz band offers better noise immunity, less interference, and more available channels. This router is a Wi-Fi 6 router. 802.11ax is the sixth-generation Wi-Fi standard, commonly referred to as Wi-Fi 6. It builds upon the previous Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac) standard and brings significant improvements in speed, capacity, and overall performance. The AX1800 refers to the maximum combined data transfer rate supported by the router across all Wi-Fi bands.

The Nighthawk AX1800 WiFi 6 is capable of a maximum throughput speed of 574 + 1201 Mbps. The real-world speed of a Nighthawk AX1800 WiFi 6 router is typically lower than its theoretical maximum speed. The TX power (30 dBm) of a router refers to the transmission power or signal strength at which the router broadcasts its Wi-Fi signal. It determines the range and coverage area of the wireless network.

The Nighthawk AX1800 WiFi 6 router offers several security protocols: WEP, WPA, WPA2, WPA3, WPS. The WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy) was the first security protocol for Wi-Fi networks but is now considered weak and easily compromised. It uses a static encryption key and has known vulnerabilities, so it is no longer recommended for securing Wi-Fi networks. The WPA2 (Wi-Fi Protected Access 2) was introduced as an improvement over WEP and provides stronger security. If WPA3 is not available, WPA2-Personal with AES encryption is still considered secure.

The WPA3 (Wi-Fi Protected Access 3) is the latest Wi-Fi security protocol designed to address vulnerabilities and strengthen security for wireless networks. It improves encryption, introduces stronger authentication protocols, and protects against brute-force attacks. The Nighthawk AX1800 WiFi 6 router offers WPS. The WPS (Wi-Fi Protected Setup) provides a simplified and convenient method for connecting devices to a Wi-Fi network. Instead of manually entering the Wi-Fi network name (SSID) and password, users can use the WPS feature to establish a connection with the push of a button or by entering a PIN. A guest network on the Nighthawk AX1800 WiFi 6 router is a separate network that provides internet access to guests or visitors without giving them access to your main or primary network. It allows you to create a dedicated network segment for guests, keeping their devices isolated from your private network, thereby enhancing security and privacy.

Connectivity

USB ports can offer additional functionality depending on the router's capabilities. The USB 3 ports provide a fast interface for external storage with data transfer rates of up to 4.8 Gbps. You can attach a compatible USB printer to the Netgear Nighthawk AX1800 WiFi 6 device. USB print servers allow you to connect a USB printer to your network, making it accessible to multiple devices. This eliminates the need for each device to have a direct USB connection to the printer. It has built-in NAS functionality. You can connect external storage devices such as USB flash drives or USB hard drives to your router. This allows you to share files, documents, photos, and media across devices on your network. It can be convenient for accessing and sharing files without the need for separate file servers or cloud storage.

Administration

The default IP addresses of the Netgear Nighthawk AX1800 WiFi 6 device is 192.168.1.1. These address allows you to access the router's console login page. If you are unable to log in to the setup panel of your Netgear router, performing a reset can be a helpful troubleshooting step. It is highly recommended to change the default password of your Nighthawk AX1800 WiFi 6 router after the initial setup. If you forget the new password in the future, you may need to perform a factory reset on the router to revert to the default settings.

The specifications above are based on the official data published by the manufacturer, but we also take user reviews into consideration. If you found an error or something lacking in the specifications above for the Netgear Nighthawk AX1800 WiFi 6, then don’t hesite and signal the problem to us.

Netgear Nighthawk AX1800 WiFi 6 (RAX20) pictures

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